ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Growth mechanism and characterization of ZnO nano-tubes synthesized using the hydrothermal-etching method

Yan Li, Chuan-Sheng Liu, and Yun-Ling Zou

College of Science, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin, 300300, China

E-mail: liyan01898@163.com

Received: 5 January 2009  Revised: 26 April 2009  Accepted: 11 May 2009

Abstract: ZnO nano-tubes (ZNTs) have been successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal-etching method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and room temperature photoluminescence measurement. The as-synthesized ZNTs have a diameter of 500 nm, wall thickness of 20–30 nm, and length of 5 µm. Intensity of the plane (0002) diffraction peak, compared with that of plane (100) of ZNTs, is obviously lower than that of ZnO nano-rods. This phenomenon can be caused by the smaller cross section of plane (0002) of the nano-tubes compared with that of other morphologies. On basis of the morphological analysis, the formation process of nano-tubes can be proposed in two stages: hydrothermal growth and reaction etching process.

Keywords: zinc oxide - morphology - hydrothermal synthesis - growth mechanism - nano-tube - photoluminescence

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-009-0082-y

Chemical Papers 63 (6) 698–703 (2009)